The Fors Marsh campaign specifically and intentionally deployed fear-based messaging to influence public behaviour to comply with CDC and other US government recommendations. The intentional promotion of fear of death from an infectious disease disproportionate to actual risk of death is psychological bioterrorism, and is associated with significantly greater social, political, and economic damage than that associated with known actual bioterror events such as the 2001 US anthrax spore letter distribution campaign. The weaponisation of fear of death from an infectious disease as a component of an intentional propaganda campaign designed to modify human behaviour is morally abhorrent, and is associated with a wide range of direct economic and mental health harms. These harms were never considered during the development and deployment of this HHS-sponsored psychological warfare technology-based propaganda campaign. This type of messaging and propaganda meets the criteria of State-sponsored disinformation.

In contrast to misinformation, which refers simply to false information, disinformation refers to false information that is spread deliberately to deceive. Unsurprisingly, political leaders, especially those who have undermined democratic institutions, adopt disinformation as an instrument for gaining support and reducing resistance, especially during crucial political moments such as elections and wars (Guriev and Treisman, 2019).

From the Energy and Commerce Committee report page 42:

‘The CDC’s disregard for emerging evidence that contradicted its own preferred policy outcomes demonstrates an insular culture unable – and unwilling – to change course with evolving science. By November 10, 2021, in line with ACIP’s [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] recommendation, the Campaign began airing ads targeting parents of children aged 5-11 years. These ads inaccurately suggested children were at high risk of severe illness or death from Covid-19. Many ads were emotionally manipulative and sought to incite fear by exaggerating the risk of severe illness and death among low-risk populations, such as children. This was especially true of ads that targeted parents. At the same time, the ads played down vaccine associated risks.’

From pages 45-46:

‘Nine months later, faced with a surge driven by the Delta variant, the Biden-Harris administration reneged on its pledge and announced, in a nationwide primetime address, that it would impose Covid-19 vaccine mandates. President Biden stated that “in total, the vaccine requirements in my plan will affect about 100million Americans”. He ominously warned unvaccinated Americans or those who had only received a single dose, that “we’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin”. The mandates were presented as a way to protect higher-risk vaccinated workers and those too young to be vaccinated from catching Covid-19 spread by unvaccinated individuals.

‘At the time of the announcement, more than 175million Americans were vaccinated with about 80million remaining unvaccinated. The vast majority of unvaccinated individuals were under 50 and at comparatively low risk of severe illness and death. More importantly, at that time, over 85 per cent of people over 65 years old had received one dose, and around 78 per cent had completed the two-shot primary series. Similarly, over 75 per cent of people 50-64 years old had received at least one dose. Thus, the age groups at highest risk of severe illness or death were largely already vaccinated by the time the mandates were announced.’

From page 62:

‘The fact that HHS’s Covid-19 pandemic policies, guidance, and recommendations, including Campaign messaging, were grounded in incorrect data generated by a faulty algorithm that had inflated the number of Covid-19 deaths shattered HHS’s remaining credibility. The CDC’s admission to overcounting deaths undermined the Campaign’s promotional materials. The Campaign’s messaging pressured parents to believe their children were facing life-or-death scenarios. By using artificially inflated child mortality rates, the Campaign greatly overstated the threat facing children and struck unnecessary fear into households everywhere. Parents felt betrayed, and those who resisted or tuned out the warnings felt vindicated.’

Quoting from the report appendix:

‘Over and over, the Campaign’s survey findings showed little to no change in vaccine uptake or readiness among the public. In spite of heavy promotion, findings reveal vaccine uptake remained unchanged for nearly a year between August 2021 and June 2022.

‘By April 2022, 76 percent of unvaccinated adults said they would never get a covid vaccine.

‘Among unvaccinated adults, nearly half of all those surveyed remained unvaccinated due to concerns about the long-term side effects of the vaccines. Others remained concerned about the speed with which the vaccines were developed, their efficacy in preventing covid infection and transmission, as well as mistrust of government motives in widely encouraging vaccines.

‘Survey findings between January and June 2022 also reveal no significant change in booster uptake among fully vaccinated adults. Notably, survey findings also reveal that while the Campaign was ongoing, booster uptake peaked at 27 per cent in November 2021 and gradually declined to 3 per cent in March 2022.

‘The Campaign closely monitored vaccine hesitancy among the public, including among parents of children under 18 years. A CET survey finding from March 2022 showed between 60 and 76 per cent of parents with unvaccinated children under 18 years were concerned about potential vaccine side effects. At the same time, 53 per cent of adults agreed that parents should be able to make their own choices about getting their children vaccinated, and as the pandemic lagged, Campaign findings indicated a 20 per cent drop in the number of adults who supported mask mandates in schools over a seven-month period. Interestingly, school mask and vaccination mandates for teachers, staff, visitors, and students were most strongly supported by liberal, vaccinated adults, non-parents and those dwelling in urban areas. In contrast, parents were more likely to agree that covid vaccines for young children, especially those under five, were unnecessary.

‘By 2022, many Americans had had enough. In April 2022, nearly half of all surveyed adults agreed that vaccination and masking decisions are personal choices and should not be mandated. These statistics reveal how public perception significantly diverged from that of the Biden-Harris administration and the Campaign’s messaging. Demonstratively, when the federal mandate requiring masks in airports and on airplanes, buses, subways, trains, and other forms of public transportation was scheduled to expire on April 18, 2022, the CDC, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chose to extend it another two weeks until May 3. Although major airlines such as Delta and American Airlines called to an end to the requirement, President Biden “promised to veto any legislation overturning it”.

‘By April 2022, 58 per cent of adults surveyed stated they were tired of worrying about the risk of covid and 46 percent claimed they tune out covid-related news. Fifty per cent stated, “[t]he virus may not be done with us, but we need to be done with it”.’

In short, the campaign failed to achieve the intended objectives and instead was associated with the development of widespread citizen distrust and disillusionment with the State, the CDC, the US Public Health Enterprise, the Medical/Industrial complex, and vaccines in general.

Not considered in the Energy and Commerce report was whether these types of state-sponsored infectious disease disinformation campaigns positively or negatively influence infectious disease outbreak outcomes. I used the US National Library of Medicine PubMed search engine to investigate this question to discover whether any high-quality peer-reviewed academic research addressing the issue had been published. My search revealed a March 2022 study publication by a group of Taiwanese researchers that was published in the Elsevier journal Social Science and Medicine, a credible peer-reviewed academic journal.

The article is titled ‘Government-sponsored disinformation and the severity of respiratory infection epidemics including Covid-19: A global analysis, 2001–2020’.

This link will take you directly to the publication, which is published as an open source document (no subscription required). But you will need to verify that you are a human. It is not too technical, and I recommend that any readers seeking additional details (such as experimental methods and data) read the primary source.

Both the background summary and the study findings are prophetic, and almost completely aligned with the Energy and Commerce committee report.

This article appeared in Brownstone Institute on November 1, 2024, and is republished by kind permission. Did Government-Sponsored Disinformation Worsen Covid-19? ⋆ Brownstone Institute

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